Matthew 18:21-22
“Then Peter came up and said to Him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to Him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times’”
Luke 17:4
“…And if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him”
Like in our America, the culture that Jesus faced in His day was a culture shooting for the minimum and satisfied with reaching the lowest requirements. It was ready to reach for “enough” and go no further. But, as with all of His teachings, Jesus flipped that worldview upside down. Instead of shooting for the bare minimum, Jesus sets a very different target – perfection. When asked about how good is “good enough,” He answered as always, that good is never good enough. Let’s take an inspection of this story He gives us.
Imagine you have a friend and he wrongs you then comes back and apologizes, even though you are hurt, you forgive him and move on. Then a couple hours later, the same thing happens, and you once again forgive him. But after seven times of this sort of betrayal all in one day, it’s getting harder and harder to forgive him. Jesus isn’t saying that after seven strikes in a day that person should no longer be forgiven, He is saying that at whatever point you think your forgiveness is “enough,” it really isn’t. He is telling us that no matter how many times this person wrongs you, you still must forgive him. This concept of pushing past the limits not only applies to forgiveness, but to every single aspect of our daily lives; good is never good enough.
Everybody knows that nobody’s perfect, but that doesn’t mean that perfection isn’t the mark to which we aim. Thank God that our salvation doesn’t depend on us making the mark; for Christians, this requirement of being perfect is met by the only One who could meet it – Jesus. And when God looks at our filthiness, instead of seeing us, He sees the perfection of Jesus. Although as Christians our righteousness is found in Jesus’, we still have a decision in front of us: will we shoot for the bare minimum, or will we show God that we love Him by pushing back the shackles of minimum reaching and pushing for best, not just good enough?
“Then Peter came up and said to Him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to Him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times’”
Luke 17:4
“…And if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him”
Like in our America, the culture that Jesus faced in His day was a culture shooting for the minimum and satisfied with reaching the lowest requirements. It was ready to reach for “enough” and go no further. But, as with all of His teachings, Jesus flipped that worldview upside down. Instead of shooting for the bare minimum, Jesus sets a very different target – perfection. When asked about how good is “good enough,” He answered as always, that good is never good enough. Let’s take an inspection of this story He gives us.
Imagine you have a friend and he wrongs you then comes back and apologizes, even though you are hurt, you forgive him and move on. Then a couple hours later, the same thing happens, and you once again forgive him. But after seven times of this sort of betrayal all in one day, it’s getting harder and harder to forgive him. Jesus isn’t saying that after seven strikes in a day that person should no longer be forgiven, He is saying that at whatever point you think your forgiveness is “enough,” it really isn’t. He is telling us that no matter how many times this person wrongs you, you still must forgive him. This concept of pushing past the limits not only applies to forgiveness, but to every single aspect of our daily lives; good is never good enough.
Everybody knows that nobody’s perfect, but that doesn’t mean that perfection isn’t the mark to which we aim. Thank God that our salvation doesn’t depend on us making the mark; for Christians, this requirement of being perfect is met by the only One who could meet it – Jesus. And when God looks at our filthiness, instead of seeing us, He sees the perfection of Jesus. Although as Christians our righteousness is found in Jesus’, we still have a decision in front of us: will we shoot for the bare minimum, or will we show God that we love Him by pushing back the shackles of minimum reaching and pushing for best, not just good enough?